Read the 3 articles listed below, and as you read, look for details to help you answer the following questions:
- List the project requirements that the students mentioned in these articles had to meet. Compare them to our project.
- How have the students taken their projects beyond the “research” component to become actively involved?
- Focus on one project from the articles – “brainstorm” a list of the various steps/components that the student probably had to complete to reach the point of presentation.
- There are many ideas/concepts conveyed in these articles, which ideas are offered might help your thinking and/or planning of your project?
Refer to the handouts in your folder to help you.
Post your responses and comments to these articles on the class blog in complete sentences and paragraphs – consider using Microsoft Word to help you correct your spelling/grammar.
“Weldon seniors shine for judges - give project presentations” http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2004/12/10/news/news01.txt
“Senior projects open windows” http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?issue_date=12-10-2004&ID=200411388
“A Passion for Projects: Students Have a Voice -- and a Choice” http://www.edutopia.org/passion-for-projects-students-have-voice-and-choice
42 comments:
The graduation requirements that the students in the article called, “Weldon seniors shine for judges - give project presentations,” had to meet were:
• Find a topic of interest
• Work with a mentor to become an expert in the subject
• Complete a project
• Write a research paper
• Present it to a panel
• Creation of a product relating to the subject
In comparison to what we have to complete for our graduation project, we do exactly the same as they do except with a few differences. It is not required that we have a mentor. We must interview people and they have an option to. We must write a proposal to our project and they do not.
-Elizabeth McPherson
1. From what I’ve read, the students in these articles basically did a project that they were interested in, followed through with it and then presented it. For example, one kid re-built a motorcycle and then went through the process of explaining what the parts were and how to refurbish one. The first article talked about how they had to have a research paper, a display board and the presentation. For our project, we do have to do basically those requirements; however, we don’t have to have a display board that I am aware of. It seems that we have the standard graduation project going for our school.
2. The way students have made their projects “beyond” the initial research by having a product, by having an actual project. I say that on the bases of a orally presented massage isn’t a research topic based. It kind of goes into the caring part of it and the fact that you aren’t just babbling on about the history and what not. You are showing something current and showing what you did and how much time and effort you put into it.
3. For Donald Chapman, he gave a massage to his mentor as he talked about each muscle and their function. His steps were more than likely finding the actual muscles, what their functions where and what happens when you push on them. Next, he had to find the specifics of everything because you aren’t going to be pushing on one thing if you want to relieve another. Then, he more than likely had to find a mentor that would help him practice and show him the techniques. Finally, I am assuming he had to practice long hours of massage and the right way to move his hands.
4. I don’t really have a concept that will help from these articles. The thing I don’t like is it praised brochures and models when the other one said it didn’t really work; so they gave conflicting arguments. I honestly, don’t know what I am going to do… These aren’t topics that are relevant to mine so it doesn’t really help.
1. The project requirements were: work with a mentor, write a research paper, display board about the topic, the creation of a product that relates to the topic, and a presentation before a panel of judges.
2. Many of them have taken it beyond your average research through actually performing the tasks that they had chosen as a topic, and many are considering going into the profession that relates to their topic, such as the student that chose embalming as a topic and plans to be in the funerary business.
3. Donald Chapman chose massage therapy as his topic. Some of his steps may consist of: finding something that he’s interested, conducting basic research about techniques/history/etc., locating a mentor in his field, conducting more research about the techniques, practicing the massages until expectations are met, reflect on experiences and prepare a presentation.
4. The presentation of the student who did the embalming could be very interesting because there’s a possibility that I could use that as a suggestion, if I were to choose burial practices as my own topic.
1. In the first article seniors spend a semester working on a senior project through their English IV class, which is a graduation requirement, in order to expand their thinking and introduce them to the real world. In City High we also spend a trimester working on are graduation project in one of our classes. The Second article talks about how they could choose a topic of interest and City High wants us to do the same thing so we don’t have to be confused of what we want to do. The third article discusses how in another state that requires students to complete a culminating project that demonstrates growth in key academic areas as a graduation requirement. Our state requires the same. City High’s mission is to follow the state rules. The state wants to see how much we learned throughout our schooling experience.
2. A lot of technology is becoming involved like the Microsoft Office is becoming routine. Students also make videos using digital cameras and movie editing software. They burn their own CDs. They use the Internet to converse with their mentors and conduct research.
3. My list would be researching, interviews, stories, articles, terms, movies, videos and a mentor.
4. The idea having a mentor because the mentor could be someone who already went through this experience. They could give me and idea on what I want to do and how do I want to start the project.
Article 1
-Research paper
-Display board about topic
-Presentation
Article 2
-They must have mentors
-Minimum of 25 hours
-How they prepared
Article 3
-Technological
-The articles just made me think about how I can become more active in my topic.
-Just hearing of kids ideas have helped and what they’ve done.
-They were very organized with the work they did.
1. From what I read, the students in these articles had to complete a Senior Project very similar to ours. For example, they were supposed to do their project on something that they were interested in, work with different "experts" in the community (similar to our internsships)to help them learn more, and then present everything they have learned to a panel of judges who would evaluate and then question the presenter. All of these things are very similar to ours. They are somewhat different as well, where they have a minimum requirement for how long they must spend on their projects, while still others have to given an explanation as to why they fell that they are ready to graduate from high school.
2. Some of the students in the articles have taken their projects a step further by continuing on with it after they graduate from high school. For example, one student learned that he was a string person and could embalm a person without getting sick. Now he is considering going into the funeral business after he graduates. On student has even rebuilt a motorcycle, on that, his father says he would find his son working on at 2 in the morning. I think this is a really good thing, it shows that the topics that the students are working are really important to them.
3. Jubal Brown had to go through a lot of different steps in order to complete his project. He must have had to learn about the specific model of the bike he was restoring, mechanics, how the bike should look when it is complete, and what specific parts he will need in order to restore the bike to it's orginial condition. In the end I think that he had a pretty cool project.
4. I think that the article that talked about the student that video recorded himself embalming a dog will be the most helpful to me. I think this is a good idea. If I can start thinking about video recording some part of my experience with my internship at the Science Center, I will have more evidence with what I a doing and how this experience will benefit me. Hopefully I will be able to start organizing my information into a way that I will be able to start moving in that direction.
The common goals between articles:
1 Find a topic they are passionate about
2 Find a mentor in the field your topic applies to
3 Go through learning about your topic through research
4 Complete some manifestation of your project
5 Find a way to present your project
The various requirements are to pick a topic and find a mentor to tell you about the topic you’re interested in, prepare a way to present what you have learned and what the marketable skill you have learned is and what it will help you with, and then present the project and the processes to a panel of judges. These all are very similar to our projects, minus of course the find a mentor requirement. We don’t need to find a mentor, but it may help. Students try to find an inventive way to present these projects to their judges, like one decides to do a narrated video and another does a large sculpture of a cat. There are more and more schools that are adopting the idea of a large final project based learning curriculum. The PowerPoint application is becoming routine in the various classes across America as well as stand up presentations.
1. Requirements that the student met are:
· Students choose a topic they are interested in
· work with a mentor from the community to learn more about their topic.
· research paper, a display board about the topic, a presentation before judges and the creation of a product that relates to their topic.
2. Beyond research:
· Weldon- Chapman's product was giving a massage in front of the judges. He first talked about the muscular system, the power of touch and the uses and results of a massage. People usually get a massage for relaxation, to ease pain or for rejuvenation
· Alexander Price-presented his senior project on tuberculosis and spoke about ways people get the disease, how it is related to HIV and how the disease moves through the body to attack the organs.
· Rashod Dildy-showed judges a clay sculpture of a large cat that he created for his senior project on sculpting. He also discussed the history of art and the steps of sculpting.
· Bryana Cadena-opened her presentation on child abuse and neglect with the fact that each year, 160,000 children suffer severe injuries from child abuse. She explained the different types of child abuse, as well as shaken baby and fetal alcohol syndromes. She also talked about help available for parents and children. For her product, she created a brochure about child abuse and neglect and gave one to each of the judges as she told them what she learned from the project.
3. For Bryana Cadena, she most likely had to:
· Research about child abuse
· Looked up information about agencies that help parents and children
· Maybe went to a hospital or orphanage or something and talked to workers about child abuse in their community
4. none of these projects or details about these projects helped me with mine.
I'm just going to have to look into more detail about my subject and expand my thoughts about Photojournalism.
1. These students had to research a topic that was of interest to them. It could even be a topic that involved with what their career may be in the future. They have to put together power points and present it in front of a panel. They also had an action part of the project. The articles said this project is supposed to teach time management, research skills, personal growth, and goal setting. The school board thinks the best way for students to learn is to let them pick their own topic. They think the senior project is a great way to learn. Their requirements are very similar to ours, but in Wood River High School the students aren’t graded on the project. They get graded for the class and all the assignments they completed in that class. We get graded for everything, and I feel that we are expected to do a lot more for our projects than most other schools.
2. Yes, some of the students went beyond by spending hours at a time working on their action part of their projects.
3. Pick a topic, find good websites, make essential questions, research topic, take notes, write paper, do action part of project, do interview, put info on PowerPoint, present PowerPoint and your project.
4. One thing that helped me was that they said they wanted to do project that affected the real world. And my project with collecting money for locks of love, is helping the world because I am raising money for people with a disease that causes permanent hair loss.
The students had to write a research paper, have a display board about their topic, and create a presentation, connected to their project, that they would present in front of judges.
To actively get involved with their projects the students got a mentor that had something to do with their project and spent a certain amount of time with the mentor doing activities related to their projects.
To get to their presentation the students probably had to research their topic and businesses that might connected, schedule interviews, take notes, and bring their research and notes together in a research paper.
The students ideas of how they got involved in their projects gave me some thoughts on how I might get involved or have an active part in my project.
1] Their graduation project
Requirements are similar to ours and are,
-One semester {different}
-they pick the topic{same}
-to complete the project {same}
-meet deadlines {same}
-portfolio's
-present to a group of people {panel}{same}
-show of a final project {same}
-do research paper {same}
-most have mentors to help them
2] They take their projects to another level by being active in the project. Do something that construes to issue.
3]"Donald Chapman" a student at Weldon high did a graduation project on giving massages he related his project to health and the muscular system the power of touch and the uses and results of a massage. For his project he probably had to research the muscular system and how it reacts to touch and what the affect of massage is how useful or non-useful it is. A smart thought he had was to have his mentor be a massage therapist. He used his mentor for his advantage.
4] Reading this article made it clear to me that you can do anything and make it work as long as you know how and have willpower. They stress throughout those article about managing time. They also talked about staying motivated and sticking to a schedule. Another key was being patient and not giving up. This helped be better understand and be prepared for how I know the project will be which is changeling.
~ Students are required to focus on their graduation projects for a semester. Also required to have a written research paper, display board about the topic, present in front of a panel of judges and have a creation of a product that relates to their topic.~ Yes, some students decided to go to college and major in the field in which their graduation project was focused on. Ex. In the first article Chapman is considering going to massage therapy school.
~Possible steps students had to complete:
-Decide topic
-Research
-Get professional help(mentor)
-Decide how to present project
-Decide on creation for presentation
Some project requirements that students had to meet in others schools are: research paper, a display board, presentation to a judge panel, and a creation of project, have a community mentor, minimum 25 hour of requirements, and possibly an explanation of why they're ready to graduate.
Students like Jubal Brown at Wood River High School went beyond the 25 hours that the project requires and spent 87 hours and 20 minutes on it. His project was repainting and rebuilding a bike. That's how he took his project beyond the research component. Steven Brickell also took it past the research by performing an actual embalming, video taping it (with commentary), and presenting it to the judges.
From the ideas listed in the articles, I've brainstormed possible ideas for the embalming project that were probably taken:
--finding a mentor
--research the history, facts, and information
-- watch and/or perform embalming
--present learned information to judges
4. Some ideas/concepts that may help the thinking or planning of my project are having passion for the topic I choose because passion leads to inspiration and more interest in what you've chooses and that will help you produce the best results. Also, one student says that staying motivated and being patient is good as well as staying on schedule which is obvious.
For the first article I did it mentioned and explained how the students had to choose a topic they were interested in, and then they would complete a project that included a research paper, display board about the topic and a presentation before the judges and the creation of a product that related to their topic. That is however something that differs from what City High do. Our Graduation project is not a research paper and is also not a senior project because we start it in our junior year. In the second article I read the project requirements was about how they had to explore their passions rather than keeping a strict academic focus and also having to research their information as follow as what City High has to do. The last thing that I noticed that they do as well as we do is that they have to get fielded(essential and fundamental) questions together for their presentation. The third article explained how they had to complete a project that demonstrates the key academic areas as a graduation requirement. It was also just a review of what the other two articles was telling me.
To get actively involved in their projects some students went out on their own and got mentors to help them with their graduation project. The students graduation projects helped them chose what they wanted to do when they got out of high school and with their projects they designed things(motorcycles). A few ideas that I think might help me out would be for me to explore my topic more than keeping a strict focus on the topic or one portion of my project. Another idea would be for me to try to work with what my topic is after high school.
-Tamika Jones
People are very passionate towards their graduation project. The minimum for a grad project is 25 hours and must have a mentor who is an expert in the field. They require a research paper about their project, a display of their project, a product that relates to the project and a presentation in front of judges. Its not always about another research paper, these people are very passionate to their subject or project they are creating or getting involved with. The kid with the motorcycle had spent way more than 25 hours on his project. He found a mentor and was interested in motorcycles so he found an old beat up 1973 Husqvarna 125 WR motorcycle. He completely restored it in every way possible some people go as far as spending hard earned money just to do something and hope to make something of themselves on this project. I understand how doing something as a simple project can make your life turn around. I see that if I make a game that can go on websites using visual basic, then I can contribute to the community and bring some fun as they search the web.
Article 1
1.List the project requirements that the students mentioned in these articles had to meet. How do they compare to our project? Senior Project presentation to a panel. They then complete a project that includes a research paper, a display board about the topic and the creation of a product that relates to their topic. It is similar to how we do it because we present infront of a panel must research about your topic and turn it into a project.
2. How have the students taken their projects beyond the “research” component to become actively involved? By creating a product that relates to there topic. She created a PowerPoint presentation and set up a display board outlined with cutouts of buses and surrounded by small blocks, bears and apples. She said she wants to major in elementary education and become a teacher.
3. Focus on one project from the articles – “brainstorm” a list of the various steps/components that the student probably had to complete to reach the point of presentation. Alexander Price presented his senior project on tuberculosis. He would have to reseacrh how do you get tuberculosis? How common is it to get? How do you cure tuberculosis?
4. There are many ideas/concepts conveyed in these articles, which ideas are offered might help your thinking and/or planning of your project? The one project was based on a large clay sculpture. I was thinking of creating something with chemical engineering techniques.
For the first article I did it mentioned and explained how the students had to choose a topic they were interested in, and then they would complete a project that included a research paper, display board about the topic and a presentation before the judges and the creation of a product that related to their topic. That is however something that differs from what City High do. Our Graduation project is not a research paper and is also not a senior project because we start it in our junior year. In the second article I read the project requirements was about how they had to explore their passions rather than keeping a strict academic focus and also having to research their information as follow as what City High has to do. The last thing that I noticed that they do as well as we do is that they have to get fielded(essential and fundamental) questions together for their presentation. The third article explained how they had to complete a project that demonstrates the key academic areas as a graduation requirement. It was also just a review of what the other two articles was telling me.
To get actively involved in their projects some students went out on their own and got mentors to help them with their graduation project. The students graduation projects helped them chose what they wanted to do when they got out of high school and with their projects they designed things(motorcycles). A few ideas that I think might help me out would be for me to explore my topic more than keeping a strict focus on the topic or one portion of my project. Another idea would be for me to try to work with what my topic is after high school.
-Tamika Jones
It seems like city high and these seniors have very similar ideas. You have a project you must research it have an action plan, and finally present it. These kids really do in detail with their projects to so that means the standards for these kids are relatively high. Of course the way they present their projects isn’t as great as ours but I am sure its just fine. (We use PowerPoint and technology they use display boards) These People care about the presentations maybe not the subject but they do care about how much hard work and the commitment they put into the project. Just someone that has already gone down the road that you will soon go down would be very helpful it would prepare you for what is to come maybe having a mentor or just an experienced person that has been through it or saw it happen would be nice. -Demetri Brown
Article 2
1.List the project requirements that the students mentioned in these articles had to meet. How do they compare to our project? Presentation, students are asked to find a mentor in the community is an expert. Similar to how we do it because presentation.
2. How have the students taken their projects beyond the “research” component to become actively involved? The students must find a mentor in the community. The mentor assesses the students understanding of the subject matter at the onset of the project and evaluates at the end.
3. Focus on one project from the articles – “brainstorm” a list of the various steps/components that the student probably had to complete to reach the point of presentation. Brown deceided to complete restoration of a 1973 Husqvarna 125 WR motorcycle. He had to look up how to complete the restoration process? How much does it cost to buy that motorcyle? Where can he get that type of motorcycle?
4. There are many ideas/concepts conveyed in these articles, which ideas are offered might help your thinking and/or planning of your project? Brown's project could relate to my topic because I would like to create something using chemicals.
1. for the first article the project requirements that the students mentioned was how they had there judge panel, video set up projection, the construction of your work. this compares to our project because we have the same type of thought to make a successful project as the way they did. In the article a passion for Projects" it says teacher and students need to be clear on a long list of assessment criteria -- from extending the student's knowledge to demonstrating analytical, logical, and creative thinking to effective background research and evidence of initiative". It compares to how Ms. Savido criteria is similar and how she describe the project to us personally so it can be more understanding.
2. students have taken their projects beyond the research for example brown made a decision to refurbish a motorcycle so he went beyond the research and took the motorcycle apart by his self so that's his action part towards his project.
3. Some components that students had to complete was the length of the project. for example Jubal Brown Wood River high school at wrote down not the steps but how long he took because it says he spent 87 hours and 20 minutes on the project. but some components students had was finding a mentor, perform shows, hands on project, just basic steps to help some of there projects.
4. After Reading each of these articles it help me lot for example "Seniors projects can open windows", Jubal Brown at Wood River high school had mentors to guide him through the the things he was struggling on. Also in the article "Weldon seniors shine for judges - give project presentations" one student stated "realizing don't be late for deadlines and be on top of everything, he said about the project". I realized that this is an important statement because if you late for deadlines its hard to transition in the next that you have because you still have to do that late assignment.
Article 3
1.List the project requirements that the students mentioned in these articles had to meet. How do they compare to our project? they presented their projects to peers, teachers, and visitors. they were able to choose a subject about which they were passionate, were allowed to take learning wherever they pleased, and knew they were going to present their work publicly to local experts and community members. one similarity is the presentation.
2. How have the students taken their projects beyond the “research” component to become actively involved? They were allowed to take learning wherever they pleased, and knew they were going to present their work publicly to local experts and community members.
3. Focus on one project from the articles – “brainstorm” a list of the various steps/components that the student probably had to complete to reach the point of presentation. Probably had to look up statistics based on how well students do on projects when they are forced to do a particular topic. and the statistics when they are able to pick there topic.
4. There are many ideas/concepts conveyed in these articles, which ideas are offered might help your thinking and/or planning of your project? Nothing on the article helped me with my topic
The goals for these articles were:
1) to find a topic that you care about.
2) Find a mentor in the field of your topic.
3) Go through learning about your topic through research
4) Complete your project and present it.
The requirements for these are to find a topic and a mentor to help you with your decision about the topic you’re interested in. Present what you have learned and what the skills you have earned in the time. Present the project to a panel of judges.
1. The only requirements that I have seen in that these students had to follow were that they had to come up with a project or study that has something to do with their interests, and then they present it to a board. That’s basically what we are doing here, except for the fact that we are trying to take an action, and doing our project as a research only is not an option.
2. Some examples as to how these students took their projects above just the researching part was that they would find a mentor who knows about that subject, or they perform an action such as performing a massage or refurbishing a motorcycle, or anything of that sort.
3. For the kid who did his project on embalming, there were probably a lot of steps that he had to take in order to do his project. First, he probably researched what embalming was, asked himself whether or not that’s really what he wanted to do, then he probably had to find a place that would allow him to try out what he’d found on embalming. In this case, he embalmed a dog, and found that he was calm around dead people, which made him think about going into the funeral type business.
4. There really wasn’t any idea or concepts from the articles that will really helped me for my project.
1.List of Project Requirements:
From the three articles:
-Needed a mentor
-Presentation project
-Research paper
-Display board
For Me:
-Presentation
-Interview someone in the field
-Research paper
-Write a proposal
-Keep a blog
2.The step that the students took with their projects to go beyond the “research” component to become actively involved was working with their mentor in their community and when it was time to present he gave an massage to a person and used the skills that he learned from his mentor.
3.With the massage therapist the steps he did was
i. Come up with a topic
ii. Research
iii. Locate a mentor
iv. Lean the massage techniques
v. Thing about how he was going to record and keep track of his information
vi. Compiled total information
vii. Get really for the presentation
viii. Present
4.Right now I’m in the beginning of my project and I really don’t know what I’m doing, how to do it, and what to do next. By me reading all of these article its gaveling me a feel of what I have to go through to get this graduation project done and doing it the right way.
Within these three articles, students mentioned many requirements for their graduation projects. All of the articles mentioned that the students must gain a mentor and complete research about their topic. This research is things about the background of the topic that they wish to pursue for their project. One article even mentions that it was required for students to spend a minimum of twenty-five hours on their project. It is also required that students must present their project to a panel that will then grade them.
There were a few projects mentioned between two of the articles ranging from embalming, to rebuilding a motorcycle, to everything in between. One student took his project past the research by actually rebuilding a motor cycle while another student made a video of himself embalming a dog. For another student’s project, he went beyond the research by giving his mentor, a massage therapist a massage in front of the panel while explaining everything that he was doing.
One student completed a project on art. For his project, I believe that he would have researched a lot about the history of art as well as how some it was seen in some cultures. It also says that he made a sculpture of a cat and for this he probably would have had to put a lot of thought into what he was going to make, how he was going to make it, and what materials he would have to use.
One project from these articles that might help me plan out my own project would be the one I mentioned above. I think that this one will help me the most because of the way it was probably done. I also think it would help because they started out learning about the history of art and the steps to sculpting before creating something from that. I think this would work for my project because there is a lot of history behind writing and there are probably many steps you have to go through in order to write something someone would want to read. I could do this all before creating a final piece.
1. Some requirement that the kids in the articles had to fulfill were making a display board, writing a research paper, and presenting a presentation in front of a panel of judges.
2. Many of these students have chosen topics that they were considering doing as a future job or profession and have taken this project further then a normal research assignment by getting out and doing something in relation to their topic.
3. Here is a list of some of the things I think the kid who built the motorcycle would have done:
1. Research how bikes work
2. Find some first had training on repairing bikes
3. Work with someone to help guide him in rebuilding the bike
4. Set a budget on how much he is willing to spend
5. Actually spend time working on the bike
6. Find a reasonable way to transport the bike for his presentation
4. I really like the idea of having a mentor to help me learn how to play the guitar because it will allow me get become skill much faster if I have someone to tell me when I am doing something wrong and how to improve on it
Project Requirements:
• Choose topic
• Work with a mentor to learn about your topic
• Research paper
• Present before a panel of judges
In comparison to what the other kids had to do we pretty much do the same thing. One difference though, is that we don’t necessarily have to have a mentor but the kids in the articles were required to have one.
I read in the articles that one student went as far as completely redoing a motorcycle. I also read that a student gave a massage in front of the panel of judges. They went out of their way to do more than I research project they got more involved.
1) Find a topic that you like and can stick with
2) Think of what you can do with your project
3) Research
4) Do your action ex.(build the motorcycle, learn how to give massages)
5) Gather all valuable information and put together the power point
6) Prepare for your presentation
7) Present
Nothing in the articles really jumped out and told me how to do my planning but I assume that with completing this project I will have to manage my time well and work efficiently.
1. Article 1
- Choose a topic
- Work with a mentor
- Research paper
- Display board
- Presentation
Article 2
- Pick a topic that’s their passion
- Work with a mentor
- Presentation also explaining why they are prepared to graduate
Article 3
- Technology knowledge
- Our project is a requirement to graduate just like, our internships, completing two trimesters of the YMCA, and get all regular classes passed.
2. - Jubal Brown had become so involved that he stayed up most of the night to rebuild and repaint the motorcycle.
3. - Jubal probably had many steps in completing his senior project, which might be: picking a topic, creating a blog, understanding the questions to solve his problem, make the essential questions to his project on how to do things, planning his time, start the project, manage time, finish project, put everything together, and present it.
4. - I think some of the ideas give would be like take classes that would help you in choosing a career path.
1. In each article, the students followed a general process of selecting a topic, working with a mentor in the community, completing an action of some sort, and presenting in front of a panel of judges.
2. Students took action by producing something or making something happen instead of just writing about it. For example, a student assembled a motorcycle out of a bunch of parts instead of writing about motorcycle assembly.
3. A student in the second article was painting a mural as their project also. I'm assuming they went through the same process that I will go through, starting with artist application and selection, location selection, and finally the actual painting.
4. In all three articles, there was focus on confidence in presentation, which is something for me to keep in mind even though presentations are a long way off. Also working with a mentor might help me through the process.
Article One: In the article called "Weldon seniors shine for judges", their graduation requirements are similar to City High's graduation requirements. Both City High and the high school students in the article need a senior project to graduate. The students are also able to pick a topic of their choice. Each students project should include working with a mentor who is an expert at the topic, researching the topic, writing a complete research paper, creating a product that is related to the topic and presenting it to the panel. The only difference between the two high schools is that City High students have to write a blog based on the student's process and their daily feelings and thoughts on their project. The students in the article have taking steps on making their project better and going beyond what was required of them. Many of the students were dedicated and created PowerPoints that dealt with their topic. It helped them to keep their thoughts organized and their project more interesting. One of the projects that was mentioned was embalming, which deals with preserving bodies. The student who did this project went through a process of learning. First, he had to research what his topic was and what it consisted of. The second thing he had to do, was learn how to use the tools and in which steps he had to use them. Then, he studied the ways that ancient Egyptians preserved bodies. Lastly, he had to learn how to stay confident because of the position he was in. There were many tips that will help me during my graduation project. The tips are: choose a topic that is most interesting to me, don't be late for deadlines and be on top of everything.
Article Two:In the article called "Senior projects open windows", their graduation requirements are similar to City High's graduation requirements and the previous high school's requirements. The students are able to pick a topic of their choice. Each students project should include working with a mentor who is an expert at the topic, researching the topic, writing a complete research paper, creating a product that is related to the topic and presenting it to the panel. The only difference between the two high schools is that City High students have to write a blog based on the student's process and their daily feelings and thoughts on their project. In the article, a student took it upon himself to work on his project longer than what was required for him to work on it.
1. List the project requirements that the students mentioned in these articles had to meet. Compare them to our project.
• Spend a semester working on a senior project
• Requirement to graduate
• Choose a topic
• Research paper
• A display board about the project
• A presentation before judges
• Creation of a product that relates to their topic
• Must work with a mentor
o These projects are kind of like ours. We spend 11th and 12th grade (two trimesters) working on our graduation project. We need this to graduate and we can choose any topic that we are interested in or that we would not get tired of. We also have to research our topic and do some sort of action plan on it and present it to a panel of judges.
2. How have the students taken their projects beyond the “research” component to become actively involved?
• Donald Chapman conducted massages
• Rashod Dildy created a clay sculpture of a large cat
• Steven Brickell made of video of himself embalming a dog
• Jubal Brown refurbished a motorcycle
• Lake Washington student who suffers from dyslexia worked with younger dyslexic children
• Lake Washington student created a steam engine out of Plexiglas
• Lake Washington student used computer-aided design software to design a sailboat
3. Focus on one project from the articles – “Brainstorm” a list of the various steps/components that the student probably had to complete to reach the point of presentation.
• Refurbishing a motorcycle
o Have to know how motorcycles are built
o Take apart a motorcycle
o Put the motorcycle back together
o Repaint the motorcycle
o Get new parts
o Learn all about motorcycles
4. There are many ideas/concepts conveyed in these articles, which ideas are offered might help your thinking and/or planning for your project?
• Choose a topic you’re interested in
• Time management
• Research skills
• Good sense of responsibility
• Connection to the real world
• Time consuming
• Have to be devoted to your topic
• Encourage you to explore your passions
• A learning stretch
• A lot of effort
• Allowed to take learning wherever pleased
• Technology – natural component
• It’s difficult – challenges students and measures important skills
• Analytical, logical and creative thinking
Article 1 -
1)The students had to write a research paper, make a display board, perform a presentation in front of judges, and make a product and all relates to their topic.
2)All of the students were given mentors that had to deal with their project. One student learned massage therapy and gave a massage to his mentor. One student was interested in embalming and embalmed a dog and videotaped it.
3)The boy who chose massage therapy. First, he had to write a research paper on all of the muscles in the back and neck and what they do. Then he had to figure out how they are affected when they are touched. He made a display board of the muscles and how they are affected. Then he had to learn how to actually do massage therapy. Then he performed muscle therapy in front of the judges.
4)How they chose their topics was not really gone over, other than that they wanted to do it because they see them in their futures. I don’t necessarily see my graduation project in my future, and mine is already planned out.
Article 2 -
1)Students are encouraged to pick a topic that they are very interested in. Also, students are required to work on the project for at least 25 hours. During the presentation to the panel, the student must also explain why they are prepared to graduate from high school.
2)During his project, Mr. Brown completely restored a motorcycle. He went out and bought new parts and fixed the bike entirely. He also repainted the parts that he had and the new ones he bought.
3)First, he had to find out what the bike looked like before it had rusted. He then had to figure out where he could buy the parts from that would all fit the bike and fit together. He then had to learn how to repaint the bike and then he had to actually repaint it. After that he had to do any finishing touches.
4)At this school the students were told to pick topics that related to their passions. Which is what I did. I chose a topic that I actually want to do. Otherwise, I would lose interest halfway through and not get it done. But I’m prepared; I want to do this.
Article 3 -
1)Students were given the choice as to what topic they wished to do their project on. And students were excited when given the choice to do something different and that they chose.
2)Students are required to use some type of technology. Whether the technology is a PowerPoint, a movie, or a CD. It could be just about anything.
3)The students are not required to graduate to complete this project; it is simply counted as a regular grade.
4)This inspires me somewhat. It tells you that you should pick something you are really interested in and can be excited about when you do it.
1. Some of the requirements that the students in these articles had to meet were:
• Same as our graduation project:
Research paper
Display board
A presentation before a panel of judges
• Different from our graduation project
A presentation before a panel of judges
Work with a mentor
Explain why they are ready to graduate
Requires a minimum of 25 hours
2. To go beyond the research component some students did things like:
Get actively involved
Go beyond requirements (like the boy went above 25 hours in one of the articles.)
3. Some of the steps that students might have took would be:
Do research
Get active
Plan everything so that it would be done on time
Be on top of everything
Getting a mentor
Gathering thoughts and ideas before starting the projects
4. In these articles there were ideas that might help me with my project such as:
get active and work with homeless children, maybe
do like a brochure like one of the students did, but mines would contain in it:
i. a list of ways other people can get involved,
ii. why children are homeless,
iii. what does it mean to be homeless, and etc.
to be on top of on top of everything
put a lot of time and effort into it
Make a video or movie
Produce a play
think analytical, logical, and creative
The steps that one individual took to finish his project was very simple. The steps for transforming a rusty Husqvarna bike into a collector’s dream were:
1. Researching original advertisement, race reports and owner’s manual
2. Looking for parts for the bike
3. Researching part suppliers
4. Working with a mentor who knows about bikes
5. Repainting and rebuilding the bike
6. Presenting his research and process to the panel
This was the process that he went through. Instead of stopping at the minimum time (25 hours) he worked on his project for 87 hours and 20 minutes. The tip that I recieved from this article was to strive to finish what you've started.
Article Three:
1. The student had picked different topics such as Massage Therapy, Child Abuse, Funeral Director, and Clay Sculpture. The students have done some research and they got involved into their project and they presented their project in front of some judges.
2. The students got involved with their topic by meeting up with a mentor and getting into the depth of their topic to get more information.
3. The student was given a paper with instructions, and then he had to pick a topic to do his research on. Then for more research on his topic he has to get involved with his topic like going out and meeting someone that is involved in it. And then after he gets all his information, he will get his presentation ready so that he can be prepared to present his project.
4. This has given me some ideas to help me get to what I am focusing on my topic and reach my goal so that I can research more on this topic by getting involved with it.
Other schools have requirements of choosing a topic of passion for the student, find a mentor, and spend a minimum of 25 hours on their project. Also, they must present their project in front of a panel once they completed the project. This compares to City High because we are supposed to choose a topic of interest, find someone to interview, however we do not need to have a minimum of 25 hours spending on the project.
One student, Jubal Brown was interested in motorcycles, so he decided to refurbish a motorcycle.
Jubal Brown probably had to find a mentor, he had to learn about what he wanted to do with the motorcycle, then he actually had to construct his project.
Ideas that were offered that might help are to just have a good presentation because they had a good project, just make the presentation as good.
You have to find a topic of interest, work with a mentor, write your the paper and then present it.
We pretty much do the same things. We find our topic research it and present. However we do not need a mentor but having one abled them to get more invovled in the project. A way to make it better you should brainstorm and get a list of ideas so that way it will go by so easy and all for you.
Article number 1:
1. Chapman's product was giving a massage in front of the judges. He first talked about the muscular system, the power of touch and the uses and results of a massage. People usually get a massage for relaxation, to ease pain or for rejuvenation, he said. Chapman then gave his mentor, massage therapist Nancy Grueneich, a massage as he explained how and what he was doing. But before he had to present he had to study every little bit of what he was going to have to do and he had to learn as much about massaging as he could.
-This is similar to what I am going to have to do but I will just have to study on a different subject. I am going to have to study many topics related to small business and simulate the start of a small business, taking financial aspects and others into consideration.
2. He was actively involved because he practiced by giving many massages to his family and friends and then he gave a massage to the teacher grading his project and took them through every step of what he was doing.
3. –Research many different massage styles
-Practice on friends and family and get feedback
-Research more different styles and opinions from people on the web to see which style is the best.
-Give a massage to the teacher and describe it in terms that he/she would understand.
4. I might want to make my presentation more interesting by possibly getting the teachers involved with the presentation. I do not know how yet but it would make it more interesting.
Article number 2:
1. He had to first research what motorcycles were pretty much about then he had to research what he wanted his bike to look like. Then he had to get parts for the bike to restore the bad bike that he had. Then he had to take time at home and work on the bike and he spent 87 hours on the bike.
-It is not very similar but it is sort of similar to my project because I will have to spend a good amount of time at home to work on my project. I will have to interview people who own a small business and get there point of views to make the project more interactive.
2. He takes this project way beyond what was required. He only had to work a minimum or 25 hours on the project and he worked way longer then just that. He also spent his money on getting parts for the bike and used his own materials.
3. Research topic
Research what bike would look like
Get an old bike to restore
Get parts
Start to rebuild bike
Research any questions he has
Present bike and show that it works
4. He got a mentor to help him and give him ideas along the way. I am currently at an internship and I am an assistant accountant for a small business owner. I may come to her for any questions or concerns to help me along the way.
Article number 3:
1. This is an article describing how graduation projects started and it says a lot about liking the idea of having the students chose their own topic to do their biggest project in high school.
-It is telling me that I should choose something that will help my future and/or be enjoyable for me to do and to study.
2. "When students talk about their own work, they get so excited," says May, who is currently president of the Washington State Board of Education. She was struck, too, by the amount of effort the young people -- even those with a tendency to slack off -- put into their projects because they were able to choose a subject about which they were passionate, were allowed to take learning wherever they pleased, and knew they were going to present their work publicly to local experts and community members.
3. Find a topic
Research that topic
Find some possible ways to get physically involved
Follow the steps and do your general questions
Present project
4. This shows me that it is a gift that I am allowed to choose my own project. I should choose something that I enjoy and that will be beneficial to my future. This shows that many teenagers in the past have done good projects o I should go above and beyond and do my project to the best of my abilities.
1. “Weldon seniors shine for judges - give project presentations”. These students have well thought out projects and they are very involved in there topics. These students took the time to join in careers that handled their topic in favor, similar to the internships that we take here at City High. Revolving a grad project around an internship is a great idea, because it brings you in close contact with your topic. All in all research paper, display board and a presentation to a panel of judges all about their topic to meet all requirements.
2. “Senior projects open windows – students encouraged to pursue passions”. Seniors at Wood River High are encouraged to explore a career or hobby of their own choice, and present a project they have formed around the topic of interest. The projects are meant to encourage the students to explore their passions rather than keep a strict academic focus.
3. “A Passion for Projects: Students Have a Voice -- and a Choice”. Students choose subjects of long term, cross disciplinary projects to study whatever they pleased. This project started as a form of observation, but was realized it raised student work ethic and was turned into a mandatory grad project, otherwise known as a culminating project. Students study what interests them for a semester and then put together the project for a presentation in front of visitor’s peers and teachers.
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